The Phantom's Aria
by Cali Vinett
Summary: 17 year old Aria runs out of school, trying to get rid of stress and have enough time to practice a little before her audition, but runs into a rather distracting man at the Opera House, trying to help her prepare, in a way...or at least kill some time.
1. Aria

**A/N:** This is my first Phantom fic. I got the idea totally randomly, and the plot will probably develop itself. Set in modern times, a little untraditional, but quality, I hope. Review!

Oh yeah, and I just realized I forgot to write a little disclaimer thing, so yeah: I don't own anything or anyone familiar in this.

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-Aria-

"No, no, no! It's a B _flat_, Sarah, how many times have I begged you to practice that?" asked the aggravated voice of a seventeen year old girl. Aria and her three friends were practicing on the stage after school. They were a quartet, the best singers in an already phenomenal choir. Ari was the soprano, Sarah was the alto, Jason was their tenor, and Marius was their bass.

"Oh, give her a break, Ari, she's had a lot of stuff to do," Jason said, defending Sarah, and Ari said nothing. The stage was big, but not too big, and it had an upright piano at the side, which they were gathered around. To their left was an exit door, and there were two doors about fifty five feet in front of them, at the back of the auditorium.

"We all have, Ari," Marius added quietly in his rumbling bass. For an eighteen year old boy in his last year at L'ecole des Beaux-Arts, he had a pretty solid sound, and Ari loved to listen to him sing, though she never had any feelings for him other than friendship. She was too involved in her music to even think about crushes. She spent all her time memorizing some new song or writing a new piece.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Ari said, sounding stressed as she sat down on the piano bench, slouching over. "But we have the competition in two weeks, and we're still missing notes!" She never used to stress out about performances until she started singing with other people. She had a solo audition coming up, too, trying to get into an opera company, but she hadn't told anyone. "Sorry, Sarah," she said quietly, and played the starting chord on the piano once more. "All right, let's try it again."

An hour later, after a few more attempts, Ari let everyone go and sat at the piano for awhile, trying to relax by playing pieces she knew by heart. She jumped, jolted out of her almost meditative state when there was a knock at the door. "Ari?" her choir director called through the door, and the girl stood up to open it. "I'm going home. Can you turn off all the lights and close all the doors for me?"

"Sure," Ari said a little distractedly.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind," she said with a shrug. "That competition and all…the quartet sounds good, but there are a couple of notes we're still missing, and it's driving me crazy."

Madame Levine laughed. "I know, I heard you. Listen, you four are the best in the state. You have nothing to worry about," she said reassuringly. "Not many quartets could do this piece the way you can."

Ari smiled a little. "Well that's good to hear. I'm sorry, I'm standing here talking your ear off, and you probably want to go home. I'll stop talking," she said, honestly trying to get the choir director out of there so she could practice her own pieces, and was relieved when Mme. Levine nodded and said she'd let her get back to her piano playing. "Thanks," Ari said quietly, and waited until the teacher left and closed the door before playing the intro to her first aria and stood up so she could breathe properly.

A half hour later, she'd worked through her four pieces and gathered up all her stuff, turned off the lights, and made sure all the doors were closed. As she stepped into the cold air, walking towards her car, she felt a wind swirl around her and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.

_Aria_…the wind seemed to whisper to her, and she opened her eyes, blinking in surprise.

"What?" she whispered to herself almost soundlessly, trying to hear the voice again. It wasn't the first time the wind had called her name, but this time, it felt to her like someone was touching her, running their fingers through her long, reddish brown hair, over her arms and across her lips. She stood still for a moment, but when the wind died, she sighed and walked the rest of the way to her car. As she turned the key in the door, the wind picked up again, and this time she felt someone brush her long hair behind her ear and whisper to her. "_Aria,_" she heard, and stood still. The wind had spoken to her before, but this was the first time she'd been able to hear a pitch to the voice. It rested on a low E flat, she noted quickly, but felt a chill rush down her spine and quickly got into the car, closing the wind out. She sat in the driver's seat and locked the door, almost breathless. The voice she'd heard the second time hadn't sounded alien to her, much to her surprise. She half expected to see someone standing outside her car, but there was no one there. "Creepy," she muttered to herself, just to cut the silence.

Five minutes later, the girl pulled her car into the driveway and turned it off. The minute she stepped out of the car, she heard the voice again.

"Aria," the now distinctly male voice called, almost singing to her. This was the first time she'd heard it three times in one night, she realized as she tried her hardest to ignore the alluring sound of whomever's voice was calling her. "_Aria_," it repeated a little more forcefully.

"Who's there?" she asked, looking around to find nothing but a snow-covered ground and naked trees.

"Aria," was the only thing the voice said, whispering in her ear as it drew invisible fingers down her arms. The sound of the voice and the feel of someone touching her had actually relaxed her so much she'd forgotten she stood in the middle of her driveway until the wind picked up. Suddenly, she sensed a presence behind her, and whirled quickly, trying to catch whoever it was that was playing with her. "Ha!" she exclaimed, then realized she'd caught nothing but the wind.

The wind died with a final "Aria…" and she walked quickly inside before it could start up again.

"Why are you so late coming home?" snapped her father's voice from the living room, sitting in his armchair in front of the television. He had never understood her love for music, so she'd never told him about her competition, or about her quartet, or if she got parts in school musicals or plays. She kept it all to herself and her friends. If she'd told him about music, he would've laughed at her. He'd never understand, and she'd stopped trying to make him understand when she turned ten.

"I was studying with friends," she said simply. "I have a test in a little over a week and I want to be prepared."

"All right," her father said distractedly. "You need dinner?"

Ari shook her head. "No, I'm going out with a couple of friends later," she said just as distractedly, and without waiting for permission or a response, she walked upstairs to her room with her messenger bag. Before even thinking about homework, she pulled out her songs and started humming them quietly. More then once, she had the disconcerting sense that someone was watching her, but when she looked around, or even out her window, there was no one there.

She then took out her binder with all her quartet music in it, and started singing through the songs. She saved the song she liked the most for last: Sing Me to Heaven.

"_In my heart's sequestered chambers lie truths stripped of poets gloss. Words alone are vain and vacant, and my heart is mute…"_ she sang quietly and slowly, relishing each word, each note, and the way both felt flowing through her body.

"_In response to aching silence, memory summons half-heard voices…"_

Ari nearly flew off her bed when she heard someone singing in an echoing and light tenor, but couldn't tell where it was coming from. _"And my soul finds primal eloquence, and wraps me in song,"_ she sang, looking around for the source of the voice that was singing along with her and seriously giving Jason a run for his money.

"_Wraps me in song…"_ she and the mysterious voice sang, and continued on. Ari relaxed back onto her bed and as she sang, her eyes closed involuntarily. _"If you would comfort me, sing me a lullaby…"_ As the two voices merged beautifully in color and timbre, the girl felt someone caressing her face and her arms as before, and it hit her: this was the voice she'd heard in the wind… "_If you would win my heart, sing me a love song. If you would mourn me and bring me to god, sing me a requiem. Sing me to heaven…"_

That was the last phrase Ari remembered singing before opening her eyes to find herself in a completely different room. Sitting bolt upright, she looked around, but the first thing she noticed was the musty smell that almost choked her.

"Hello?" she called, looking around, just now noticing all the statues at the walls, the paintings, and most of all, sheet music on every table, every chair, and a few pieces on the floor. Standing, she realized she'd been lying on a makeshift bed – a mattress, a pillow, and one black cover.

She continued to look around and stopped when she almost stepped on a piece of music on the floor of the…well, wherever she was. Looking it over, she realized it had to be a piece for piano, based on the two staves in each system. _But where's the piano?_ she asked herself silently, wondering how a piece could be composed without a piano. "Hello?" she called a little louder, but promptly started coughing, due to the heavy, musty air. If she breathed shallowly, she was fine, but breathing deep made her feel like she was trying to inhale through a pillow.

She walked around a bit, running her hands over sheets of music and – apparently, props of some sort. Suddenly, she heard a pipe organ sound from somewhere else, and realized she'd passed a hall, almost invisible, blocked by so many props and a candelabrum. Following the sound of the music, and obviously another entity, Ari slipped between the wall and the candelabrum after trying to move it without avail. She had to climb over a box, and wondered how anyone could've gotten through there alive any bigger than her, and she was little. The girl looked to be a little over five feet – five foot four, maybe – and weighed about a hundred and five pounds. For her small size, though, her voice was huge, and she had a three octave range full voiced, along with another register that she could tap into if she needed to do coloratura work.

"Damn," she heard a familiar voice echo from somewhere further along the hall.

The girl continued to follow the sound of the pipe organ as whomever it was continued to play it, and had to feel her way along the wall after awhile, losing the light from the candelabrum. Grimacing when she heard a sour chord, she heard the familiar voice curse again, and Ari almost fell into the room as her hand slipped off the wall she'd been using as a guide to keep her from smacking into the wall or a door. She stood stone still, leaning against the threshold as the music stopped at dissonance. The figure sitting in front of the pipe organ turned his head a little, but not enough, she thought, to see her.

When he turned fully back to the organ, she breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly covered her mouth. Had he heard her? She watched him for a few seconds. _Apparently not._ _Good._ She stepped further into the room, watching the man at the organ. He looked tall and thin, wearing a black tuxedo. His light brown hair was slicked back completely, she suspected so it wouldn't get in his way when he was trying to read music.

As the girl listened to him play, she found herself leaning against the wall, closing her eyes in relaxation. She felt like she was drowning in the peacefully hollow sound of the overwhelming instrument. She could never play it. Suddenly, she realized she still had sheet music in her hand, and jumped when he hit the sour chord again, changed it, and cursed, still unhappy with it. She closed her eyes, listening to the chord she'd just heard and she picked out the notes he'd played.

"You ought to try a d minor seven chord," she suggested timidly. She barely had time to be surprised at how timid she sounded before he turned around slowly to the right, looking at her.

"A d minor seven chord?" he asked simply, looking at her with only the peripheral vision in his right eye, then turned back to the instrument, playing the last phrase, adding the d minor seven chord, and resolving it to a one chord. "Perfect. Good to see you awake, Aria," he said, standing, but keeping his left side away from her.

"Ari," she corrected automatically, then quickly covered her mouth. The side of his face she could see was actually quite handsome with a chiseled jaw line and full lips. His nose wasn't too big, nor too small. His proportions were beautiful, but all in all, he was really very intimidating. There was a sort of…power emanating from him that shouldn't have been there, she thought. As he straightened his coat, she realized he had extremely long fingers…good for playing piano.

"Aria," he corrected her. "Your name is beautiful. Why bother shortening it to something so…plain and ordinary?" She opened her mouth to protest, but he turned completely towards her, and Ari stuttered, then stopped, her mouth left open in surprise. On the side of his face he'd kept away from her was half of a white mask, not made of plaster, or of cloth, but some strange material that flowed and changed with every motion his head made, and every twitch his muscles gave. She couldn't help staring at the Opera Ghost's mask. "You're...you're real" she whispered in complete awe, unable to find her voice. She'd heard of the famed Opera Ghost, but always thought of him as a myth, having had no proof of his existence. All she knew about him was he wore a mask, was a musical prodigy, and killed without a thought. She backed up quickly, smacking straight into a wall.

"Come now, Aria. You're not afraid of me, are you" he asked, sounding falsely hurt. "Aria..." he sang teasingly when she tried to sink into the wall. "Tsk, tsk, tsk" he scolded gently, stepping closer to her. "You weren't afraid when the wind whispered your name, but you draw back now when I speak" he noted, continuing to walk slowly towards the girl in smooth, flowing steps.

"How do you know about that" She tried to ask, but instead found herself saying "the wind doesn't intimidate me" in a shockingly timid voice, and wondered why on earth she'd admitted to him that he intimidated her, but managed not to ask him as he chuckled, both blue eyes twinkling.

"It certainly seemed to bother you..." he almost taunted, and Ari began to glare through her fear.

She tried to ask him how he knew about the wind again, but ended up saying "did not..." in a wounded voice.  
He stepped close enough now to touch her with those long, almost skeletal fingers of his, and did so, brushing her hair behind her ear. She responded by sinking down against the wall, forcing him to lean down even more than he should've had to as he whispered in her ear. "Aria..."

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**A/N:** What do you think? SPEAK TO ME! ("Sing, my angel of music...") 


	2. Truths

**A/N:** This is interesting to write. I love the way Ari's developing. I'm really playing up the Phantom's powers in this, and I like the way it's working out…I hope you guys do, too! I tried to keep him as in-character as possible, when dealing with a seventeen year old girl.

Thank you loads to those of you who have reviewed! You keep me writing, so keep it up! )

**Angel of music**: What's confusing you? Specify, and I might be able to clarify it!

-Cali

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-Truths -

Ari gasped when he whispered in her ear, sounding exactly like the wind had, sending chills down her spine. "It was you!" she exclaimed, then realized it must've been him she'd felt watching her so often in her bedroom. Gasping again, this time indignantly, she lashed out with her left hand and slapped him hard enough to send echoes through the room. When he drew back, holding his cheek and glaring ice cold daggers straight into her eyes, she realized she'd just slapped the Opera Ghost. _Oops_.

"Sorry," she muttered quickly and quietly through the hand she'd clapped over her mouth in surprise at her audacity She felt horribly embarrassed, but mostly scared he was going to kill her, especially with the look he was giving her. "A-are you going to kill me now?" she asked timidly, trying to hide her shaking hands.

The Opera Ghost glared at her silently for what seemed to her like an hour, and then sighed, his gaze softening. "No," he said, and brushed past her, walking into the hall she'd come through to find the room.

"Wha-" she started to ask, then just followed him instead when he didn't show any sign of hearing her. When he got to the candelabrum she'd been completely unable to move, she watched him in complete awe as he lifted a hand and moved the ornate sculpture - without touching it. "How...?" she was stunned. How could anyone move anything without touching that which they were trying to move?

"Telekinesis, Aria," he said simply, and moved it back directly in front of her.

The girl stopped and glared, speaking to him as she slid between the wall and the candelabrum. "Er, Monsieur Opera Ghost?" she began a little awkwardly. "Where am I?"

"Erik," he corrected her. "You're in my...lair," he said, glancing back at her with an amused smirk when he heard her trip over the candelabrum's feet.

Ari righted herself and brushed off her dark jeans, straightening her black tank top. "All right. _Erik. _Your _lair_? Right, and where, pray tell, is this – _lair_ – of yours? Or are the myths and legends completely right about you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at the back of his head, where she thought his eyes would be were he facing her.

Erik stopped and turned to her. "How much do you know about me?" The suspicious tone in his voice stopped Ari in her tracks. He watched, interested, as she stopped and looked anywhere but at his eyes.

Those eyes…those startlingly blue eyes of his seemed to bore into Ari's soul, and frankly, it scared her. She couldn't look at them. "N-not much," she said quietly, and he repeated the question. Ari felt her body relax and suddenly, she was speaking. It felt like someone was pulling the words from her. "I know you're a prodigy."

"What else?" That same tone of voice he'd used before sent waves of calm warmth over Ari, and she answered.

"You're a killer. You're deformed –" At that, she stopped and gasped. She'd _said_ that?

Erik looked away and broke the spell. "Yes. You, Aria, are also a prodigy. You have an audition for the Paris Opera Company in less than two weeks, am I correct?" he asked quietly, walking towards her. His movement, she noted subconsciously, was always fluid, but deliberate.

Ari's jaw dropped and she lifted her gaze. "How did you…how – I mean, what makes you think that?" she asked, trying too late to deny it. She'd started to tell her choir director, but she'd thought Ari was too young. After that – after the one person who knew Ari's voice as well as she did had told her she couldn't do it – the girl stopped telling people.

Erik grinned at her attempt to deny that she had the audition. "I heard those…_Managers – _Messieurs Lecarte and Jaques supposedly "run" my Opera House – talking about you. They've heard of you," he told her, amused. "You don't think the soprano in Paris's top school-age quartet goes unnoticed, do you? Especially not with the solo you had in that last song. Aria," he started, "your training is lacking a lot. I can help you fill the gaps in your technique," he said, close enough again to touch her. "Your voice –" He reached up with one thin finger and drew an invisible line down her throat. "– is phenomenal, but you could be better. You could be truly incredible, and I can help you transform," he said, dropping his hand when she tensed and backed up.

"I don't want your help," she snapped, and brushed past him, bumping into his shoulder as she walked past. He caught her wrist when her arm swung back and tried to pull her back towards him. Ari turned and glared at him for a split second before turning away and yanking her arm hard out of his grip.

"Whose help, then, do you want?" Erik asked, calling after her as she walked away from him, looking for a way out of the room.

"Let me out!" she yelled angrily, looking for the entrance or exit. From where she was, she could see nothing. How the hell had he gotten her in here?

"Your father doesn't appreciate your abilities, and doesn't care about them. Your choir director is jealous of your voice," he called, speaking louder as she rushed further away in search of a door, slowing down in her steps. "Your mother's gone, Aria. The only people who appreciate your talents never say anything about it."

Ari stopped where she was and wrapped her arms around herself, her throat tightening. He'd really struck a nerve. Her mother had been the only person who'd loved her daughter's voice and really cared about music. Her father never told her, but that was the reason he hated music, and hated to hear Aria sing. When her mother died, he'd ridded the house of everything that reminded him of her – except Ari of course. He couldn't have done that legally. He never went to her performances. It was only her friends _if_ they had time. She didn't even have any siblings, so it was just her. _Just her_. She was completely alone.

And then he said it. "Let me help you," he murmured quietly, directly behind her, and rested a hand on her shoulder gently. At his tone, a cross between a sob and a gasp escaped from her. How did he know all this? She never let anyone know anything she didn't want them to, and he was voicing everything she thought about, day and night, everything she'd told no one, not even her diary.

He didn't flinch when she clawed at his hand. "_Let me help you_," he repeated more forcefully, but gentler at the same time.

Ari felt a sudden rush of adrenaline and anger, and whirled, slashing at his face. She missed him completely, but got him to let go of her. "_No!_" she screeched. "Let me out!"

"Stop yelling. You'll just hurt your voice," was all he said in a calm tone.

Ari knew he was right, but she wanted nothing more than to scream at him nonstop. He was verifying everything she knew subconsciously to be true but didn't want to admit. "Let me out of here," she said quietly, shaking in anger. She didn't even notice tears that were running down her face.

"Not in this condition," he muttered calmly, walking closer to her.

For every step he took, Ari stepped away from him, winding between things. She didn't even notice when she smacked her hand into another candelabrum. Erik continued to follow her speedily, and Ari continued to get more and more enraged by the fact that he wouldn't leave her alone. He caught up to her at one point and she whirled on an impulse and tried to slap him. He dodged – barely – and she jogged away, almost going in circles until she got to the hall she'd gone down to find him. She almost dove through the tiny space, and managed to get through it fairly quickly.

Erik, of course, didn't have to dive through it – he moved everything away telekinetically and continued to follow her down the pitch-dark hall. "Will you stop running and look at me?" he asked, getting a little frustrated by the way she kept trying and thus far, actually succeeding in getting away from him. He didn't want to really run after her, but if she forced him to, he would.

Ari didn't answer, but kept walking speedily away, continuing down the hall, past the organ room where she'd first discovered him. She sensed him gaining on her and sped up, turning right at a fork. She had no idea where she was going, but she was getting away from him. Suddenly, she hit a dead end. Literally.

Erik heard the thud and winced. "Aria, stop running away from me," he said calmly, from the mouth of the hall she'd gone down, walking towards her.

Ari said nothing, but instinctively stayed where she was. She couldn't see anything anyway. Listened to his footsteps in the dark, she panted quietly as she tried to catch her breath. She'd really been running. Once she thought Erik had moved far enough away from the mouth of the hall so she could get past him, she kept the fingertips of one hand against the wall on her left and walked quickly towards him – and the way out.

As she walked past him, Erik caught her by the upper arms, and she struggled hard as she could to get away. He finally let go when he thought she was going to make him bruise her, and he really didn't want to hurt her just to make her stop running.

The girl tripped over her own feet trying to get away from him as soon as he let go of her, and turned, watching her go down the other side of the fork. She didn't even register the fact that this was indeed the labyrinth the legends had spoke of.

The Opera Ghost followed her quickly, and shook his head when she turned right and went straight into another dead end. He could see fine in the pitch dark, being used to it. He heard Ari swear loudly when she smacked into the other dead end.

"Aria," she heard him call in that distinctly relaxing and hypnotic voice of his. She tried her hardest to walk out the entrance of the hall, but found herself caught again. "Let me go," she hissed at him, breathing hard.

"Let me help you," he retorted, and kept a tight hold on her right wrist as he lifted his left hand to lightly trace her jawbone.

Ari relaxed involuntarily at his touch and stopped fighting him. When she opened her mouth to speak, she realized he had her backed against a wall in a dark foyer, and they were nose to nose. "I…don't…want…your…help," she whispered shakily, unnerved by his proximity to her. She also found that she was quite literally _forcing_ those words through her vocal chords.

"Aria," he whispered close enough for her to feel his warm breath on her lips.

"I don't…want…" she started, still feeling winded, but couldn't finish the sentence. The words really wouldn't go through her vocal chords. Did she really not want his help anymore? She didn't know the answer to that one. She felt insanely curious, but almost afraid of it at the same time. "What would you do if …I…refused to let you…" Every time she tried to say she wouldn't let him help her, the words got stuck.

"I would have to keep you here until you consented to my help," he told her quietly, his words gently caressing her lips as his fingers lightly drew invisible lines down her arms, reminiscent of what the wind had done to her earlier that day.

"Well then you're going to have to keep me here," she whispered stubbornly, but she could feel her defenses going down..

"Aria," he whispered again. "Let me show you what you can really do…"

"N…no…" she whispered, trying to turn her head away, but couldn't. Was he keeping her there, or was it her subconscious? Either way, she felt utterly stuck.

"Let me help you." He murmured quietly in that hypnotic tone of his. Ari would definitely have to ask him if he knew he was doing that, or how he did it, or something. That was, of course, if she remembered to ask him.

Ari gasped quietly when she felt him touch her throat gently, drawing swirling lines on it. Thinking about it later, she realized he'd drawn a treble clef. Her heart was pounding a lot harder than she cared to admit, and her breathing had become a bit ragged, on top of being winded. "Fine," she said without even realizing it, and almost collapsed when she sensed him draw back.

"Good," he said and offered her a hand, which she knocked into as she walked past him, barely remembering anything that had just happened. It had felt like a dream – or a nightmare, depending on how she looked at it. She hadn't even been able to see anything, just feel. Touch was her favorite sense, though, aside from her hearing.

Erik cleared his throat. "Ahem. Other direction," he corrected her. "You are trying to get _out _of the labyrinth, are you not?"

At this point, Ari was very glad for the darkness, which hid her embarrassed blush rather effectively. She said nothing as she brushed past him with her hand on the wall she'd been leaning against. When it dropped off, she turned to the left and kept her hand against the wall, suddenly able to see the candelabrum that blocked the entrance to the labyrinth. She immediately began jogging towards the light and climbed out of the maze when she reached the end of the tunnel. Blinking at the light, she stood in one place until her vision cleared and she could see straight.

"All right," Erik said from behind her, stepping out of the maze himself. "Lessons start _now_."

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**A/N:** Well, half of that was rather unexpected…What did you guys think? 


	3. The Lesson

**A/N:** Well that last chapter was interesting…I now have absolutely no idea what's going to happen with Ari and Erik. I leave it up to them. I was gonna post this last night, but I was up 'til 2:30 working on a stupid project, after getting home from play practice at 9:15ish. Ridiculous, non? Oh well. I worked on this one all through today (in all my classes except drama…) I hope you like it! He got kinda mean in this one…moreso than I intended, but oh well…

Thanks for reviewing, guys! Keep it up, this helps me!

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- The Lesson –

Ari fought back a yawn as Erik led her to what she'd thought was another crate of collected props. However, when he walked around to the back of it, she realized it was a grand piano. "Wow," she murmured quietly, wondering how he'd been able to hide a grand piano from her. "How do you keep hiding things like that? What about the entrance to the labyrinth?"

"Those with a soul blind to what lies directly in front of them will not see what I have hidden," he said simply.

All Ari could say was a resounding "_Huh_?"

"Exactly. Now, begin your first aria," he said quietly, sitting on the piano bench.

The girl frowned. "B-but I'm not warmed up," she protested, "and my throat feels tight," she added quietly. She never realized she'd been crying. Not many people made her cry, but he had done it rather easily, without intending to.

Erik looked up at her as she stood next to the piano. "That would be," he began, pointing at her cheek, "because of your tears." He spoke quietly and gently, then looked down as he fished out a clean, white handkerchief from his front pocket. The piano keys suddenly became very interesting to him as she dabbed gently at her tears. "Your natural reaction to agitation is to cry, hm?" he asked gently.

Ari didn't answer right away. There was about ten seconds of awkward silence while the girl tried to relax her throat so she could speak. "Yeah, it is. I hate it," she complained. "It's horribly embarrassing." She was trying to play it off, but she really felt weak in comparison to him at the moment, standing by a beautiful grand piano with tears all over her face. Her nose had probably gone all red, too, as it usually did from crying. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, beginning to explain, but Erik held up a hand, stopping her.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Aria. If you think you're ready, I'll warm your voice up. I want to see how big your range really is," he added, mostly talking to himself, and played an A major chord. "Sing a slide up and down the octave on the syllable 'ah'. Ready, and-"

About five minute later, Erik stood from the piano bench, telling her to continue as he walked behind her.

"Full voiced? That's as high as I can go," she said. "That was a high D, right?" He nodded. "Right, that's as high as I can go full voiced. I have another register-"

"-No, you can go higher. It just takes more air and more internal space. _Go up a half step and sing the exercise again,_" he sang on a medium-low E flat, an octave higher than his normal speaking voice.

Ari took a breath, but tensed when she felt him touch her throat gently with his fingertips, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Shhhh," she heard him murmur from behind her. "Relax," he almost sang, and found himself smiling when he felt Ari's muscles relax. "Sing," he whispered.

Ari took a deep breath and began on a medium high E flat. She felt completely relaxed as Erik touched the hinges of her jaw, making sure it was relaxed enough. She quickly slid up the scale into a loud, high E-flat, and then back down the scale, landing on the lower octave.

"_Up a half step,_" he sang to her gently, and she complied, taking in more air than she thought she could.

They continued for about six more notes, and Ari quickly snapped out of the spell she'd been under, right in the middle of her high A. Her throat tensed, realizing that the high pitched, but surprisingly solid note she heard was coming from _her_, and she promptly began choking on her own voice.

Erik quickly rested his whole hand on her throat, trying to soothe it with warmth from his hand. He walked away from Ari and from somewhere she couldn't see, he produced a glass of water. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, watching her as she drank. "I shouldn't have pushed you like that. But you, _mon cherie_, have a rather large vocal range. What are you singing for this audition?" he asked, sitting back down at the piano.

"Batti Batti," she responded immediately, then hesitated as she tried to remember what else she was singing. "Deh Vieni Non Tardar…Oh, Porgi Amor, and –"

"-The Queen of the Night's Aria," he interjected without looking at her, rather decisively. When his gaze shifted up to her, he smirked noticing she had an eyebrow raised as if to say "you've gotta be kidding."

"The Queen…but my choir director -"

"-Is a jealous whore who does not appreciate your talents, Aria. Do you trust me?" he asked rather suddenly.

"Do I – Do I _trust_ you? Erik, I just met you."

"Aria, I know your voice much better than you could ever imagine," he told her. "You _can_ sing that aria, and if you do, you will blow them away. Trust me," he pleaded quietly.

At the tone of his voice, Ari completely caved. "All right, fine…Do you have the score? I don't know the words, just the tune," she admitted. That had always been one of her favorite arias, but she'd never thought she was good enough, or had a big enough range to actually perform the piece. If the Opera Ghost thought she was good enough to sing that, then she supposed she could give it a try.

"I do have the score," he said, standing. "I assume." Walking over to a shelf full of scores Ari hadn't noticed before, he shifted them left and right, searching for it. "Aha," he said a few minutes later, having found it. The large scroll flew willingly off the high shelf into his hands, and he walked back to the piano, flipping through the papers until he found what he was looking for. "Here is it. The Queen of the Night's Aria. The highest note is an F. You can sing a high A, so you should really have no trouble with this. Just sing through it right now on the syllable 'la'," he instructed, and began playing the accompaniment.

However, the moment Aria opened her mouth to sing, he lifted his hands off the keys. "Stop. Expand your ribcage more, and _relax your throat_. If you don't, you will _never_ have the power you need to sing this piece. Begin again, a measure before your entrance."

_Shoulders up, back, and down,_ Ari thought to herself as she expanded her ribcage. She closed her eyes to force herself to relax, and at her entrance, she took a deep breath and came in more powerfully than she expected, and almost stopped. Yet, at Erik's harsh _"Sing!"_ she continued.

They ran through the song once, and then talked through the German so she'd know how to pronounce it. While a prodigy, she did not innately know how to speak languages other than English and French. Once she was comfortable enough to sing it on the words, he played the intro again, and she came in strongly as she had before.

At the staccato, she backed off, and Erik stood from the piano bench, almost knocking it over. _"No!"_ He sighed deeply. "Aria, if you back off with your air, you will _never_ get enough support to get up to the high F, and definitely not on a staccato run. Here," he said, wrapping one arm around her waist and one arm around her shoulders. "Sing," he whispered, and Ari sighed to calm herself before starting a measure before the staccato section. When she got to the run with the high F's, she felt Erik's grip loosen on her, and she relaxed in response. She sang straight through that section and on through the end of the aria. When Erik let go, she almost laughed in surprise.

"I did it...Wow," she said, grinning despite herself.

"Yes you did, and it sounded good. Do it again – without me," Erik ordered, and Ari began again.

Once she successfully sang through the whole thing again a cappella, Erik began playing the accompaniment from the beginning of the aria.

"_Der Höl-" _

"-STOP! _Weak! _More air, more support, more anger! You've seen the opera, you know your character! Be your character!" Erik yelled at her, trying to get her mad at him so she'd sing stronger. He'd forgotten, of course, that Aria cried when frustrated or angry. He swore quietly, under his breath, when he noticed her eyes well up.

"I can't do it! I _can't _do it! Every time it's 'weak, Aria!' 'More air, Aria!' I'm just not good enough! You overestimated me, you dolt, and now you're trying to force me to do something I didn't think I could do in the first place!" she yelled through tears streaming down her cheeks. She wiped angrily at them, turning away from him.

Erik had successfully made her angry, but now she couldn't sing, as her throat was entirely tight, and her sinuses would be clogged soon. "Oh, don't cry, _cherie_," he murmured, getting up to walk to her.

When he touched her shoulders, Ari pushed him away – hard, but not nearly hard enough to knock him backwards – but after a couple of minutes of silence, except for her frustrated, shaking sniffles, he tried comforting her again and she didn't push him away. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her, rubbing her arms gently from behind. "I was just trying to get you mad enough to sing stronger, not to make you cry," he said with a slightly sheepish smile.

Ari shook her head at herself, unable to answer him. Erik walked around so he was facing her. Fishing for his handkerchief, he realized she still had it.

She realized the same thing that instant, and fished it out of her pocket. "I didn't mean to keep it," she said quietly, with a weak sort of laugh, and dabbed at her tears. Erik stretched out a hand and called the sheet that had been on the bed to him. Only when he settled it around Ari's shoulders did she realize it was a cloak, not a sheet.

"That's all right, you can keep it. I have a few extras somewhere," he said with a smile, and gently wiped a tear she'd missed away from her face with a finger.

Ari bit her lip. "Well this is embarrassing," she said quietly. "This is the second time I've cried in about four hours…"

Erik shook his head. "No, no. I was working you harder, perhaps, than I should have been. You are young, and I must admit, I momentarily failed to remember that you were not used to working so diligently. I apologize," he said quietly, but sincerely, staring into her green eyes. When Ari looked away a little awkwardly, he cleared his throat. "Why don't you rest a little and let your throat loosen up, and we'll run through it again. Be confident, Aria. You're a prodigy, and you have an _incredible_ voice. All you have to do is know you can do it, and that's where you fall short. You doubt yourself, _cherie_. Relax for awhile, and then we'll get back to singing," he said quietly, and turned his back on her, walking into the labyrinth and into the organ room while Ari walked over to the piano. She played a C chord and then a scale, smiling. The grand was perfectly in tune, and playing it just felt…_right._

She sat with her foot resting on the right pedal and began to play Beetoven's Moonlight Sonata, relaxing very quickly as she played.

Erik had intended to work on his newest piece, but when he heard her playing, he turned around and slunk silently back to the entrance of the labyrinth to watch her.

Ari was so deeply entranced and enthralled by the smooth, tonal sound of the piano she didn't even sense him behind her. Her hands caressed the keys lovingly with every chord, and she barely stopped to give herself time to breathe before playing the second movement. From that, she moved directly into the third, her hands moving quickly and aggressively as she played the repetitive arpeggios. By the time she finished that movement, her hands were shaking from the effort it took her to move her fingers so quickly. She took about a ten second break, and went into the fourth movement, letting all her tension flow to her hands and away from her throat. By the time she finished the piece, she'd become relaxed enough to sing again.

"Very good," Erik commented from the mouth of the maze. "How long did that take you to learn?"

Ari hadn't even realized he was there, and had been watching her the whole time, but she tried to play it off as if she'd known. "By heart, it took me…four months of practicing each movement every day. I didn't do the fourth movement as well as I usually do," she admitted.

"It was still very good. Are you ready to sing?" When Ari nodded, indicating that she was indeed ready to sing again. Erik walked to the piano, and she stood from it, but the angles they'd arrived at had her looking straight up at him. She tensed momentarily, and then shifted sideways and walked to the curve of the piano. "All right, remember. Your character is angry. Sing _strong_. You are powerful." When she nodded, he played the intro, and she came in strong as she needed to.

The girl glanced over at him to see if she'd done it right. If she wasn't mistaken, that was a smirk crawling across his lips…that just made her angrier than she was acting. He was _laughing_ at her? She'd done nothing remotely amusing. She continued singing, and used her irritation with him to fuel her energy and put power behind her voice when she went to the staccato section, and sang straight through the whole aria flawlessly. When she finished, Erik stood, clapping lightly.

"Bravissimo – very well done, Aria. I daresay perfect. Do it again."

Ari rolled her eyes when he said to do it again, but sighed and took a breath, beginning the aria all over again. Only when she finished singing it again did she realize she still had three songs to sing for him. She groaned before he could congratulate her on another perfect performance, and he raised an eyebrow. "I just remembered I have three other songs to sing for you," she groaned and leaned back on the piano.

Erik chuckled. "Yes you do. You'd better do this aria last. Let the other three warm up your voice, and end with a bang, I suppose you might say. In the meantime, pick your next aria," he said, ready to listen to her sing a cappella again.

"How about Batti Batti?" she asked with a shrug. She liked that one.

"Very well. Whenever you're ready, begin with the recitative," he instructed, and Ari sighed, releasing tension, then complied.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, that was interesting. Again, it went differently than I planned, but hey…that's what my stories do. Lol. It's like some unwritten rule that _my_ stories never follow _my_ plot ideas. Stupid characters…Anyway, for those of you who don't speak French, "_cherie_" is "dear," pretty much. I like that word. It's fun. I'm going to stop babbling now…Review! 


	4. Ari's Secret

**A/N:** Okay, this chapter is interesting. A bunch of stuff happened that wasn't supposed to, and a story appeared in here that I didn't know about…Lol. My characters come alive, if you haven't gathered, and sort of take over my stories…_all_ of them, especially my fictionpress stuff. Reverse the Extremes, for instance, I actually don't remember writing. Lol…Right. On with the story!

* * *

-Ari's Secret-

"Very good," Erik murmured once she finished singing _Batti Batti_. "Fluid and confident, but not too slurred. Your melismas were a little shaky, though. It's between a register switch in your voice, is it not?"

Ari had been listening to him, and now nodded. "Yeah it is…My flip's between an A and a B flat. I learned this before I figured out how to work through my switches," she admitted, "and I'm having a little trouble working in the new technique.

Erik nodded. "That's easy enough to work out," he said quietly. "Slide on 'ah' again," he said, starting her on a low A, listening to her voice, noting every nuance he heard. When she got up the octave and started on that A, he spoke to her. "Larynx down, back of your throat open, jaw unhinged, everything _relaxed_," he listed quickly.

Ari tried to remember everything he'd just told her as she closed her eyes, relaxing into the high note. Going a half step up, it felt completely different, but she did the same thing. He played a C chord and she hit the top easily. "Good," she heard him say, and then play a couple of measures before her high melismas. This time, she slid straight through her break.

"From the beginning?" she asked with a sigh. She was _tired_, but she forced herself to sing with energy anyway as he played the accompaniment under her. They ran straight through it without him stopping her again, and when she finished and sighed contentedly, he flipped through the marriage of Figaro, which had conveniently been lying on his piano.

"All right, _Porgi Amor_, _cherie_," he said, and played under her as she began to sing.

"_Porgi amor…qualche ristoro…al-"_

"-Stop. You know the story behind this aria, do you not? The countess is upset because her husband is looking at other women. She's begging him to come back to her, or to just let her die. Aria, have you ever been in love?" he asked suddenly, and Ari's eyebrows snapped together. She opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. "You've never been in love," he surmised.

"I've never been in love," she admitted.

"_You_ have never been in love?" His tone was almost disbelieving as he stared at her in evident surprise.

"I have never been in love. I've never even had a boyfriend," she said with a shrug.

Erik frowned. "Why?"  
"Why?" Ari repeated, frowning herself. "I don't see any reason to get into all that. Music is all I need," she said almost dejectedly. "Music can't love you, Aria," Erik said gently and truthfully. As much as he loved music, he knew it was not all he needed in life, and it certainly couldn't be all Aria needed. "Music can't touch you, and radiate love for you from every pore. Music does not provide any sense of security. Music won't hold you at night and comfort you when you need it -"

"-Maybe not, but music is loyal. Music doesn't break hearts and shatter dreams and confidence. Music loves and is loved unconditionally. You'd never worry about music going and…" Her voice trailed off when she realized what she'd said.

Erik frowned, but this time it was almost sympathetic. "You _have_ been in love," he realized. "Why did you lie to me?"

Ari immediately closed up, folding her arms over her chest as if to protect herself. "I don't like to think about it. As far as I'm concerned, it never happened," she said quietly, but firmly, looking away from Erik. "You wanted me to sing _Deh Vieni_, correct?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Erik shook his head. He wasn't going to let her get away with changing the subject like that so easily. "Tell me what happened, Aria. Maybe you can use the emotion for the piece. When she hesitated, he looked at her eyes until she had to look into his. "Aria…" he almost sang in his hypnotic voice, "tell me."

Under his tone, Ari didn't even hesitate before speaking. "It was two years ago, in the summer. His name was Tom. He convinced me to go out with him. We were together for about two months, and he was writing me love letters and telling me he loved me…I thought I loved him, and maybe I did…he broke up with me and completely crushed me. He said I was too obsessed with music, and convinced me I wasn't good enough to sing opera…." She hesitated, staring straight ahead, but not exactly looking at anything. "He destroyed me…I've been working since our breakup to get my confidence back," she admitted. "But when he broke up with me, I…just wanted everything to go back to the way it was…I wanted him back so badly…" she said slowly and a little shakily. "But then I realized all he'd really done was hurt me…After that I decided it never happened – and that was pretty easy, since no one but us knew about it – and stayed away from boys from then on. Music is my first love and my only real love. I know music will never hurt me."

Erik had been watching her to keep her hypnotized and stop her from not telling him the whole story, but now he turned away. "Do you think you could tap into this emotion while singing your aria, or is it too painful?" he asked quietly, looking at the sheet music. He felt bad for her, but knew she didn't want pity. She was much too stubborn to accept it. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," he said sincerely, "but the more emotion you feel, the better your acting will be, and the better your acting is, the more of a chance you have of getting into the company. "The countess wants her husband back. Use the emotion you felt when…_Tom_…broke up with you, and sing again," he said, getting back to teaching. His anger at the boy made him hesitant to say his name. Wait, he was angry at him for hurting her? Why would _that_ make him mad?

"Okay," Ari said a little nervously, and closed her eyes as she dug up the emotion she'd kept so far deep inside her she almost couldn't remember what it felt like, but when she found it, she knew. "_Porgi amor, qualche ristoro,_" she sang quietly, her voice so filled with longing and pain that Erik's mouth fell open. _"Al mio duolo, ah miei sospir…O mi rendil mio te soro, O mi lascia al men morir…O mi lascia al men morir…"_ she took a shaking breath and came down to a piano. _"Porgi amour qualche ristoro, al mio duolo ah miei sospir…O mi ren d'il mio te soro…o mi lascia al men morir…"_ when her voice trailed off in a steady decrescendo, and fell silent, no one spoke for awhile until Erik broke the silence.

"You're a shoe-in, _cherie_," he whispered tonelessly. "If you don't get into the company, Messieurs Lecarte and Jaques are denser than I thought."

Ari shook her head. "It was shaky."

"You need to learn how to take a compliment. The countess is upset – of _course_ her tone will be a little unsteady. You have a beautiful voice." When Ari opened her mouth to protest more, Erik smiled. "This is where you smile and say 'thank you, Erik.'"

Ari just smiled a little, giving him an "I'm sorry, but you're positively insane" look. "So, um…_Deh Vieni_?" she asked, wondering if he wanted to hear that one yet, or if he wanted to work on _Porgi Amor_ any longer. When he nodded, she smiled. She loved this aria. It had been one of the first she learned, and it was so flowing and seductive.

As he flipped through the score, he asked her, "Do you know the setting and story behind this one?" curious to see if she knew what she was singing about. Ari nodded. "Go on, then."

"Oh, er – well, my character in this one is Suzanna, the Countess's maid. The Countess's husband has been making passes at Suzanna, and she and the Countess have a plan to have Suzanna…seduce him – that's what she's doing in this song – and catch him in the act, so to speak," she said confidently and rather fluidly.

"Exactly. So, _Suzanna_," he said with a sly sort of smile and a perfect Italian accent, "Seduce me." He was daring her, a glint in his blue eyes.

Ari smiled when he played the intro to the recitative, and began to sing, really talking to herself on pitch. This recitative always made her a little giddy when she really got into the character. Her character was anxiously waiting for this seduction to be over so she could be in her loved one's arms again. When Erik played the intro to the aria, her face straightened into a bit of a confident smirk. At her entrance, she took a breath and began her attempt to seduce him. Her tone was hollow and pure, but strong, and her phrases were lyrical and smooth. She made singing look easy.

Thankfully, she knew this aria like the back of her hand, so it didn't throw her off when Erik faltered and missed a key, surprisingly enough. Ari managed to suppress her grin and continue to sing to him. "_Qui mor mora il rusciel qui scherza l'aura…che col dolce su suro il, cori staura…_"

The girl could feel her teacher watching her as much as he could, but made herself keep singing, even though he was making her uncharacteristically self conscious. She felt like she had so much to live up to around him, as he was indeed another prodigy, but she pushed these thoughts out of her mind and concentrated only on being seductive and singing as smoothly as she could.

As Erik watched her, he found he couldn't take his eyes off her, and didn't want to. Not only did she have an incredible voice, but she was rather pretty as well…

_Stop it, Erik!_ He mentally snapped at himself, shaking his head irately when he missed another key.

When he looked up at her, however, she caught his gaze and held it as she continued to sing. "_Vieni, ben mio, tra queste piante a scose,"_ she sang, beckoning him, _"Vieni…vieni…"_

Erik stood up, feeling as if she was pulling him towards her, and she sang a cappella, leaning against the piano as he stepped gingerly around the bench, to the back of the piano across from her, and she turned, still singing to him. "_Ti vola fronte, in coronar…" _Erik felt her almost unintentionally pulling him to her, and walked slowly as she continued to sing. "_Ti vola fronte, in coronar…" _By the time she slid into her cadenza easily, he was about an armslength away. "_In coronar…di rose._"

The last few chords on the piano were played telekinetically as he looked straight down into her eyes. "Perfect," he murmured, stepping closer to her.

Ari's head was tilted a little and she was indeed looking almost straight up at him. When she felt his surprisingly gentle fingertips draw invisible lines down her arms and between her fingers, she tensed, and tensed further when his hands rested on her waist. "What…?"

"Not all men are evil, Aria," he whispered calmly. "Not all of us will hurt you."

Ari's neck muscles tensed when she found herself in his arms. Her hands wandered to his with all the intention of pushing them off of her and getting herself out of his embrace, but when she touched his hands, she somehow didn't want to push them off of her, and rested her palms lightly on his arms instead. "You all want the same thing…" her voice trailed off as she tried to find excuses.

"You can be very seductive when you want to be," he whispered to her, and Ari shrugged with a bit of a smile.

"It's the song," she said, giving her excuse. She did definitely have a seductive side, but she rarely did anything about it. Music distracted her for the most part, and the only way she could explore that side of her was through this aria in particular.

"Did you forget what we talked about?" he asked, amused. "You still haven't learned to take a compliment," he whispered, leaning in a little.  
Ari closed her eyes, his image blurring anyway. "I haven't?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as she relaxed a little. "What makes you think that?" she asked, trying to get him to keep talking as her nerves mounted.

"Your response was an excuse," he said, and she could feel and hear him smiling. "I told you you could be very seductive when you wanted to be, and your excuse was 'it's the song,'" he reminded her. "Let's try this again. You're very seductive, _cherie_. Did you do that on purpose?"

"You dared me to seduce you…so I gave it my best shot…did I succeed?" her words were almost slurred, as a combination of nervousness and relaxation. "I take everything you say seriously."

"Good," he said, ignoring her question."Then learn to take a compliment. You're beautiful, seductive, and a shoe-in to get into the opera company," he whispered to her. "What did I tell you to say?"  
Ari smiled. "'Thank you, Erik,'" she whispered.

Erik chuckled quietly. "You take everything I say seriously…do you take everything I do seriously, too?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," Ari said honestly. "It depends on what you do."

"Let's find out, shall we?" he asked gently, and closed what little space there was left between their lips.

* * *

**A/N:** _Well_ then…again, that wasn't supposed to happen, but hey…it works…by the way, these are all arias I've sung. They're awesome. _Deh Vieni_ is from Le Nozze Di Figaro by Mozart, and it's sooooooo pretty. It's fun, too. I sang it to my boyfriend at a choir concert when I had a solo once. Lol. Queen of the Night is REALLY hard, too.

Well now I'm really wondering what the heck is going to happen between those two, as I have no idea anymore. They totally screwed up my plot. I'd planned to have him fall for her in chapter 2, and Ari wasn't supposed to ever have had a boyfriend…oh well. Lol. I'm sure some interesting developments will occur now…REVIEW!


	5. A Lesson Learned

**A/N: **SIGH I can't even write my novel right now, every time I try I hear dialogue from this fic in my mind and have to start writing here again. It's driving me nuts, so I figure I kinda have to comply. I just realized how obvious it is that I'm a singer…Wow. Chapter three is, like, all technique stuff. Eesh. Well at least I know what I'm doing…Annnnnyway…

Marissa - I'm so glad you like it! I will definitely continue this. I can't stop, the characters drive me nuts if I try! Lol.

On with the story!

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-A Lesson Learned -

Ari stood in slight shock for a few seconds before relaxing a little, but when she found her hands wandering up his arms to curl around his neck, she gasped and pulled away. "What am I doing?" she asked no one in particular, looking away from Erik, at the piano. "No, no, no…This isn't right…I – I can't…I mean you-"

"-I what, Aria?" he asked, tilting her chin up with a finger. "I've known you for quite some time. This is not sudden, exactly," he admitted. "I'm the presence you always feel hovering around you when there's no one there. I'm the one whispering your name in the wind and singing to you in your dreams. You want to be loved, Aria. Everyone does, and you know very well that music alone cannot do that for you."

"...How long have you been watching me?"  
"Since the first time I heard you sing at that competition four years ago."  
"Why didn't you say anything" she asked, watching him. The mask hadn't, as she suspected, unnerved her. On the contrary, it gave her confidence in him. For so many years she'd thought the Opera Ghost was a myth. Not only was he real, he was a good kisser...She frowned at herself. _Stop it, Ari!_ she scolded firmly, turning herself away from him.

Erik shrugged. "I wanted you to succeed without help, since you seemed so determined to do it that way, and you did. I saw you getting anxious about everything coming up now, and when I heard you were auditioning, I wanted to help you. I want you to get what you want, and you have to know what they're looking for to get it." He sighed. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want you to push me away, and you would have, at that point. You were unsure of your ability, and you needed enough confidence for me to help you do something great. You had to grow more for me to be able to help you."

Ari nodded. It made sense, "Oh..." she cleared her throat. "I never thought you were real" she admitted with a shrug. "I thought I was going crazy, hearing my name in the wind...How is it that you always get me to tell you what you want - whatever you want" she asked, looking up at him. She'd originally turned away from him, unable to look into his eyes out of sheer nerves, but she'd turned back to him when she spoke.  
Erik rubbed the back of his neck self consciously and looked down. "I, ah, know how to hypnotize" he admitted. "I also know ventriloquism, which is how I spoke to you and you thought it was the wind. I never took advantage of you...I just convinced you to tell me stories, or truths that were on the tip of your tongue anyway."

Ari stared at him. He'd really hypnotized her? "Oh," was all she could say. The truth was, through most of her life, she'd sort of been in love with the idea of an Opera Ghost, an Angel of Music. A prodigy like her, but never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that he would actually _exist_. Now that she was faced with the physical manifestation of a _dream_ and he was everything she'd imagined he would be – romantic, an incredible singer, seductive, a good kisser (_shut up, Ari!)_ – she'd never been so scared.

Erik touched her face gently, shocking her back into reality. "What are you so afraid of, _cherie_?" he asked gently, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"Don't call me that," she said, closing her eyes in relaxation despite herself. She absolutely refused to admit to herself that she loved the sound of his voice, no matter what he called her.

"_Cherie_," He whispered, teasing her, and chuckled when Ari reached up and smacked his arm. "But really, what do you have to lose by admitting to yourself what both of us know you're feeling?" he said, not realizing quite what he'd said.

That was a mistake. Ari's eyes snapped open and she glared straight into his. "You…_arrogant_…" she hissed. "How do _you_ know what I'm feeling, when _I_ don't even know what I'm feeling? Huh? You are an overbearing, domineering, haughty, stuck-up, overconfident, conceited _jerk_! You call me _cherie_ in this…seductive…I-I mean," she shook her head quickly to clear it. "You call me _cherie_, you whisper my name in the wind, you tell me to _seduce you_ with my aria-"

"-It's the context of the song!" he yelled, enraged that she was so suddenly turning on him.

He didn't know, of course, that it was completely a defense mechanism. Ari was frightened, so she focused on everything bad that she could, and made herself angry. "That doesn't matter; you still said 'seduce me' in this teasing, daring voice, so I did, and then you _went with it and kissed me!_ Not only did you do _that_, you made me kiss you _back_!" she accused, pointing an angry finger at him, poking him in the chest on the last three words.

Erik raised the eyebrow not hidden behind his white mask. "That, _cherie_, was your choice and yours alone. I didn't _make_ you do _anything_," he almost snarled. "You could've moved away and you didn't. You could've resisted and you didn't. You could have absolutely refused my help, and you didn't. You could have ignored my voice in the wind, and you didn't."

Ari'd had her mouth open to protest more, but closed it, taken aback by his tone. "I…I could not have," she protested. "You – you _hypnotized_ me!" she accused, taking a few steps back and pointing at him dramatically.

"_Indeed_," Erik said, looking down at her. "This is ridiculous. Stop accusing me of things we both know I did not do."

Ari glared. "But you've done it before! You said it yourself! You know how to hypnotize, and you know ventriloquism!"

"Aria, this is getting us _nowhere_. Why?"

"-Us?" Ari squeaked, settling on that word in particular "_Us?_ There is no _us_. There never was an _us_. There will never be an _us!_ Us does not exist!" she snapped, babbling so much that Erik couldn't stop himself from outright laughing at her. "What is so funny, Monsieur Opera Ghost?" she asked, mocking him more than calling him by his "title."

Erik grinned. "You're so panicked, over one little kiss."

"Stopit!" Ari spat, turning away from him with her arms folded. He was _laughing_ at her, and it was frustrating her. She was getting nowhere. How did she make him understand – no, that wasn't even what she wanted. What _did_ she want? She didn't even know anymore. Her answer came a little more willingly than she hoped it would when Erik stepped forward and touched her shoulders, as if he was about to give her a neck massage. His fingertips caressed the sides of her neck, and Ari's eyes closed.

This was her answer. This was what she wanted. His touch…his voice…his aura…she wanted hi- _No!_

Erik pulled his hands off of her when she turned around abruptly. "Stop it," she said, breathing hard and looking either ready to kill or ready to cry. He didn't know which. "Just _stop_ it. You're confusing me. I've never had anyone touch me like that in my _life_!" she cried, her voice actually breaking, much to her tutor's shock. "You think you can just get me here somehow, and – and hypnotize me, and make me fall in lo-make me kiss you, and – and…" it was all too much for her. She couldn't speak anymore. She opened her mouth and tried to force her voice through her vocal chords, but all that came out was a dry squeak.

When touched, Ari lashed out with her fingernails, aiming to claw. Unfortunately for her, she missed completely and clawed her own shoulder because he moved too quickly. Realizing that she was bleeding, she quickly forgot all about what Erik had made her do, and how much he'd confused her.

Silently, Erik stepped away from her and returned moments later with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a couple of cotton balls. As he wet the cotton with the stinging liquid and began to clean Ari's cuts, she remained silent, and stood where she was, thinking – a dangerous pastime for her, especially right now.

What unnerved her most was that when he'd kissed her, it had felt _right_. She hadn't disliked it at all. It felt like that was where she was supposed to be, in his arms, pressed against him. She'd never felt like that about _anything_ in her life – except music. With music, she knew she was supposed to be doing it. She was _supposed_ to be singing. It just felt right. She felt good onstage, and she felt good dealing with any music she performed. She'd never felt right in a guy's arms before…it scared her.

Erik thought as he cleaned her cuts. He hadn't really meant to do this to her…he hadn't known she would react this way. He definitely liked her. He'd fallen in love with her voice immediately when he heard her sing the first time, and since then, she'd only gotten better. "Do you purposely file your nails into claws?" he asked quietly.

Ari opened her mouth to speak, but nodded instead, finding that she wasn't sure of her voice quite yet. She'd almost said she'd fallen in love with him. _She'd almost said she'd fallen in love with him._ Oh god. What was _happening_ to her? She'd never had a crush in her life, aside from that Tom guy, and that hadn't even started as a crush. He'd developed one on her and she decided to go along with it…

But through the two months they were together, he had never, _never_ touched her the way Erik had. He'd never made her feel the way Erik had…and she liked this better. For the five seconds she'd been in his arms, she'd stopped caring about everything, and she'd felt safe and protected. Tom had never made her feel that way. "E-Erik?" she asked a little shakily.

"Yes?" he asked, drying off her cuts by dabbing at them with a dry cotton ball.

"I'm…sorry…"she mumbled. "I just…I'm really confused…" Ari didn't even know what she was talking about. She was just giving the first excuse she thought of. _What is there to be so confused about?_ She asked herself. _You like him. You want him. Just _tell_ him! _"Erik, I…ah…um, what time is it?" she asked, resisting the urge to grimace at her complete spinelessness.

Erik pulled a gold watch out of his pocket and pushed a little button, opening it to look at the face. "It's almost three," he said quietly, and replaced the timepiece in his pocket.

Ari's jaw dropped. "_Three_ in the _morning_? I can't be here – I have to go back! If dad figures out I'm gone, he'll – wait…how did you get me out in the first place?"

"I, ah, hypnotized you completely and had you walk here," he said with a shrug. "You opened your bedroom window before you left, so you'll be able to climb back in through that. Your father has no idea you haven't come back yet. Trust me. Aria, I think you're ready, if you want to audition tomorrow."

"B-but I have school tomorrow," she protested.

"What is more important, a day of school or an audition with the Paris Opera Company?" he asked, raising his good eyebrow. "Are you ready to sing tomorrow?"

"I-"

"Run through the Queen of the Night's Aria," he interrupted, deciding he wanted to hear her do it once more before she left. When Ari began to protest, he held up a hand. "Run through it once, and I'll let you go home. Rather, I'll take you home, if you like." He stepped away from her and sat at the piano. He ran his hands up the keys in one long scale to warm them up again, and flipped through the score to the Magic Flute.

Ari immediately snapped into character when he played the intro. She came in strong, yelling at her imaginary daughter. At the staccato section, she took a breath, and sang steadily through it. By the time she finished, she was breathing hard. "Ow," she complained, rubbing her stomach. Staccato was hard on the stomach muscles!

"All right, let's get you home," he said almost reluctantly, and stood from the piano. "I'll get your audition moved to tomorrow. If you wait too long, you'll forget what I've taught you."

It made sense to her. She followed him as he walked into the labyrinth. When she tripped once, Erik realized she couldn't see as well in the dark as he could, so he reached back and took her hand, leading her carefully through turns and halls.

The girl tried to keep track of all the twists and turns, but found herself quite lost, and unable to figure out where she was.

After she tripped a few more times, Erik rolled his eyes. "Oh, for – this is ridiculous," he said, frustrated, and swung around, letting go of Ari's hand.

For a couple of seconds, Ari panicked. "Erik?" she called, thinking he'd just left her. "_Erik?_"

"I'm here," he said behind her, and scooped her up into his arms. Ari bit back a screech at being lifted like that when she couldn't see, resulting in a sort of squeak, and felt Erik begin to walk forward.

Hesitantly, Ari wrapped her arms around his neck as he walked.

About five minutes of silence later, Erik turned into a hall lit by torches, and dropped Ari down onto her feet.

When dropped unceremoniously, she wobbled a little and rocked forward onto the balls of her feet to balance herself. She left her arms around his neck, looking down away from him.

Erik started to pull her closer to steady her, then suddenly let go, and walked ahead of her.

Ari stood in place momentarily, then began walking again. They walked out of the labyrinth in silence and stepped into a part of the Opera House Ari knew to lead into the lobby.

"After you," Erik said, holding a door open for her, and she walked through. "Do you know how to get home from here?" he asked, merely curious.

Ari nodded. "Yeah, I've seen a couple of operas here I can walk home." When Erik nodded and turned around to walk away, Ari did the same, then turned back around, debating with herself for a few seconds, and decided she had to speak when his hand touched the knob of the door they'd just walked through. "Erik?" she called, then quickly closed her mouth. She almost hadn't intended to speak.

He stopped, turning towards her as he had the first time they'd spoken – partially, and to the right, watching her through his peripheral vision. "Yes?"

"Um," she began uncertainly. There was so much she wanted to say to him, so much she needed to ask. She wanted to run into his arms, feel his lips against hers again…she wanted to tell him she'd decided how she felt about him, but all that came out was, "Thanks."

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**A/N:** Well that was an interesting one, I didn't expect any of that, but it worked out quite well if I do say so myself…I actually have an end in mind for this, well, a general one, but there are a couple of little things that need to work themselves out, 'cause I don't know what's gonna happen with 'em. CougherikandarisituationCOUGH

…

REVIEW!


	6. Misanthropy and Confessions

**A/N:** This chapter kinda runs away from the original plotline…but my ideas are really flowing for this, and I'm definitely ecstatic about that…

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-Misanthropy and Confessions–

Erik smiled a little, looking down. "You can thank me by showing me all our hard work wasn't for nothing. Thank me by getting into the Opera Company," he said, and turned fully around. He started to take a step forward, then shifted and turned his back on her.

Ari opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and opened it again. "I-…Bye," she said quickly, and walked out the door before she could stop herself and turn back.

"Aria, wait!" Erik called suddenly as the door closed behind her, then sighed. Too late. She wouldn't have heard him, and she hadn't.

Ari walked home and climbed up to the second story, through her window. Only then did she realize she had never taken off Erik's cloak. Untying the strings gently, she slung it over the back of her chair. She immediately flopped onto her bed, without changing into her pajamas, and fell asleep before she remembered pulling the covers over herself.

"ARIA!" she heard a bellow from downstairs, and jumped about four feet into the air. "_SCHOOL_!" Ari glanced at the bright red numbers on her clock and swore. It was 7:00! School started in half an hour…she hadn't set her alarm! She groaned and rolled out of bed, grabbing the first pair of jeans she saw before remembering that she was auditioning for the Paris Opera Company today, if Erik was true to his word as she suspected he would be. She quickly sifted through her wardrobe until she found her short black dress. She loved that outfit; it gave her confidence. She slid it over her body, glancing in the mirror at the way it hugged her curves, and drew attention away from her broad shoulders. Grabbing a pair of thigh highs, she rolled them carefully over her legs, and tried hard not to poke her thumb through the sheer fabric. She rushed to put on her necklace, bracelet, and ran a brush through her hair. 7:10. She had five minutes to get to the bus before she missed it and had to walk.

Swearing, she ran through the hall into the backroom and grabbed her eye makeup. She could do it before choir. That class never started on time anyway, being first thing in the morning. Stepping out of the bathroom, she whirled and grabbed her pocket mirror. Rushing down the stairs, she slipped her three-inch, posture fixing heels on and grabbed her messenger bag, racing outside just in time to see the bus coming. "Wait!" she called, and the bus slowed down. She'd barely had time to grab a jacket, but she needed one, as the dress broke almost every part of her school's dress code. The minute she stepped onto the bus, she heard wolf whistles, and groaned. One guy actually had the nerve to try and catch her wrist. In response, she lashed out and clawed at him.

"Ooh, getting testy, are we, little prodigy?" one guy asked, completely teasing her as the bus began to move and Ari walked through the aisle, trying to find a seat that wasn't occupied by someone she didn't want to talk to.

"Nice dress, trying to impress someone?" a girl asked.

"Little miss singer, turning to little miss whore?" a guy asked, tugging on the hem of her dress.

"HEY!" roared a familiar voice from the back, and Ari looked up to see Marius glaring daggers at the boy who'd called her a whore. "Did I hear what I think I heard?" he asked calmly, having silenced the entire bus. The best thing about Marius was, not only was his voice good, but he was loud. When he spoke, everyone listened.

"What, 'little miss singer turning into little miss bore'?"

"-Little miss whore," Ari corrected, walking past the boy and over to Marius. "He called me a whore, Marius," she said calmly. "But frankly, I don't care," she said with a shrug, sitting down next to her friend when he moved over, still glaring at the boy who'd called Ari a whore. He was giving him a "we'll talk later" look, Ari realized.

Marius sighed and settled back down into his seat. "I hate guys," he grumbled, and Ari laughed, but her laugh was quick and short, not her usual appreciative laugh. "Are you okay? What's with the dress, anyway?" he asked, curious.

Ari sighed, and nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just a little nervous…which leads into my explanation of the dress. Um…Listen, don't tell anyone, okay?" she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Marius nodded. "You know you can always trust me." His brown eyes were completely innocent, and his black hair stood out, as well as his muscular, tall figure. Ari knew she could trust him.

"No judging me…I, um, have an audition at the Paris Opera Company today, if my friend kept his word," she added quietly, thinking to herself.

Her friend's jaw dropped. "You're auditioning for the Paris Opera Company? Wow. What are you singing?" he asked, simply curious.

Ari grinned. "Wait 'til you hear these…I'm singing _Batti Batti, Deh Vieni Non Tardar, Porgi Amor, _and the_ Queen of the Night's Aria_."

Marius stared in disbelief. "The _Queen of the Night's Aria_? Ari, that's insane. You can _sing_ that?"

"Yeah…I worked with him – Ah, my new tutor – all night last night. I got four hours of sleep," she said, yawning. "So that's why I'm in the dress. You don't think it's whorish, do you?" she asked quickly, suddenly panicking. When her friend shook his head, she let out a sigh of relief. "Good…I'm just so…nervous all of a sudden. Marius, I didn't even know what I could do…I have this _range_…it's amazing. I hit a high _A_ last night. Well, then I tensed and kind of choked, but I still hit it, and it sounded _good_. Not strained or anything…I have no idea when my audition is. I just know it's today," she realized, and hoped Erik would contact her.

Just as she'd hoped, Erik spoke to her when she stepped off the bus, telling her in that relaxingly hypnotic voice of his that her audition was at noon. Thankfully, the Opera House was not far from the school. Ari could walk there if she needed to...but in heels? Good thing the music theory class got out for lunch at 11:30.

Ari sighed as she stepped into the choir room and sat down in her chair, carefully applying her minimal eyeshadow, eyeliner, and concealer.

"Hello class," Mme Levine said about five minutes later, and about half the class grumbled something reminiscent of "good morning." Mme Levine smiled, shaking her head at her heavy-lidded choir.

When the choir was told what piece to get out, Ari hid the pieces she was auditioning with behind the music and pretended to sing with the choir while studying her pieces and noting every nuance and everything she had to do to sing it right. That was, of course, until Mme Levine noticed. "Ari, put that _away_. You will sing with the music you're told to, with the rest of the choir. If you think you have something better and more important to do, you may leave."

At this point, everyone was staring at Ari. She'd never had any teacher say anything like that to her before, especially not Mme Levine. Choir was the only class she ever _always_ paid attention in. However, at the offer, Ari shrugged and put her folder under her chair, taking her music with her as she shouldered her bag and walked out the door to the sound of astonished gasps from the choir.

Mme Levine stared after her best student for a moment before composing herself. "Marius," she said quietly, glancing at him. "Will you please follow her?" she knew the two were close, and she wanted Ari to help with the choir today. She hadn't really expected the girl to leave at her offer.

Marius nodded and quickly left the room to race after his friend, who seemed to be walking rather quickly for a girl in three-inch heels. Of course, by the time he caught up to her, she was already out the front door. "Ari!" he called after her, realizing it was raining. "You're going to ruin your dress," he told her, smirking.

Ari turned. "I don't care. I'm going back to the Opera House!" she yelled, frustrated. "I refuse to stay in this…_building_…another moment," she said a little more quietly.

"Can I at least walk you there?" he asked, walking closer to her, grimacing a little at the rain. When she opened her mouth to refuse, he interrupted. "Ari, you're in a short black dress, heels, it's raining, and you're pretty. I wouldn't go alone," he said reasonably.

Of course, no one ever said Ari was reasonable. She hadn't even registered the compliment. "No," she snapped, and started walking away. Quickly, she turned. "Uh, Marius!" she called after him. "Tell her you couldn't catch me and you don't know where I went." Thankfully, she'd managed to catch him before he got too far away. "Wish me luck," she said, suddenly a little nervous.

Marius walked back to her and hugged her lightly, then kissed her cheek. "_Bonne chance,_" he whispered. "You'll do beautifully."

"Thanks," she responded with a smile. "I hope so." Turning, she walked away and towards the opera house.

About ten minutes later, she reached the large building soaking wet, and tried to open the door, only to find it locked. "Damn," she muttered, knocking.

Monsieur Jacques opened the door. "Hi," she said with a smile, pushing her slightly long, dripping bangs behind her ear. She was glad her hair was back, and she didn't have to deal with it. A pencil had gone in it to twist it up in choir.

"May I help you, mademoiselle?" he asked, looking her over.

Ari quickly realized she was soaking wet and dripping all over. "I'm Aria Decrescendi…I have an audition at noon toda-"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, I remember you," he said thoughtfully. "It is, however, eight o' clock in the morning. I would appreciate it if you would come back closer to your audition ti…" he started to say, but his voice trailed off, and Ari frowned, wondering what was going on. Then he spoke again. "My deepest apologies, mademoiselle Aria, please, come in," he said, opening the door and almost bowing her in.

Ari looked around and suddenly felt bad about being sosoaked in this beautiful place. Her second home was here, really. Whenever she had no homework, she watched rehearsals and saw operas. The staff knew her pretty well, except the managers. That was only because they never saw her. She'd learned to sneak in and sneak out silently. This was the first time she'd come in through the front door, and . "Will you be all right in the lobby, mademoiselle? I have some business to attend to - Monsieur Lecarte and I did not expect anyone today before noon." When Ari nodded, telling him she'd guessed, as the door had been locked, he smiled and inclined his head, leaving her dripping in the front hall.

She walked to the carpet so she wouldn't make a puddle on the marble and slip in it later - and she would, knowing her. While sitting down on a hard wooden bench, Ari looked around, studying old and new posters of old and new operas. Soon, the girl found herself standing to get a closer look at the poster across the room from her. The opera was _Don Juan Triumphant_, and just the colors intrigued her beyond reason. She stared into the painted flames and found herself reaching out to touch them.

"Careful, they'll burn you," she heard a voice whisper from behind her, and a towel draped itself over her shoulders. Concealing a smile, she turned to face Erik. "Back so soon?" he teased, smirking.

"Very funny," Ari muttered dryly as he rubbed her arms gently with the towel, drying her. When he tried to dry the dress's thin straps and move down to the actual dress, she took the towel from him. "I don't think so," she said, coldly amused by his attempt, whether it was real or not.

He shrugged, but couldn't keep a boyish glint out of his eyes. "Suit yourself. Aria, that dress is soaked. You're going to get sick; it's cold in here," he told her, concerned about her well-being, and especially her voice.

Ari raised an eyebrow, wringing out the bottom of her dress into the towel. "Oh? And what do you presume I do about it? I have no change of clothes in my bag," she said, nodding towards the bag she'd taken with her from school.

"Leave that to me. Come. I'll find you something to wear," he assured her, opening a door in the wall. He held out a hand to her, and she cautiously took it, trying not to look at him like he was insane as they walked into yet another entrance to the labyrinth.

They walked in the dark for what felt to the girl like an hour before reaching a gently lit tunnel.

Erik quickly realized he still held her hand, and didn't need to guide her now. However, when he let go of her hand, it took her more than a couple of seconds to realize he'd let go, and let go herself. When he led Ari into a room filled with bright colors, fabrics on racks, and wigs, she realized they must be in the costume chamber.

"Wow," she murmured in near disbelief, looking over all the large and gaudy costumes, and at the smaller, less ornate ones. "Wait, you think I should wear one of these" she asked, and reached forward to touch a light blue blue ball gown made with glitter and mesh it seemed. "But most of these come with corsets" she noticed. "I don't, never have, and probably shouldn't wear a corset if I'm auditioning vocally. I won't be able to breathe."

"Why don't you wear one for now, until your dress dries?" He phrased it as a suggestion, but it was really an order. Looking around the costumes and back at her, then back at the costumes again, he picked a sheer, white, short dress with a mesh outer layer, and a corset off a hanger and held the garments out to her.

Ari took the outfit from his hesitantly, and looked over the pieces, trying to figure out what went on first.

"The corset" Erik told her, amused, and turned around to give her as much privacy as he could.

Ari stuck her tongue out at the back of his head and turned her back to him, slipping quietly out of the top of her dress and pulling the corset up against her. She shivered a little when the chilly air hit her. "Um, Erik?"

"Yes?" He was already amused.

"Ah, how do you tie these thing up?" she asked self consciously.

Erik bit his lip to stop himself from laughing at her confused tone, and turned around. Before taking the edges of the corset out of her hands, he ran thin, but gentle fingertips up her back, surprised when he saw her relax and heard her sigh. He ran his hands around her waist, leading to the strings, which he pulled taut, and began to lace up the binding article around her torso.

The girl winced, feeling as if the corset was crushing her ribcage, but said nothing until Erik finished lacing it up in the back. Ari cleared her throat, and the prodigy remembered he had to turn around again. "Thanks" she said quietly, and slipped out of her dripping wet dress and pulled the sheer, clinging, white dress on. She looked down and realized she could see straight through it.

_Men_.

She turned, looking for the mesh shift that was part of the costume, only to realize Erik had it in his hands. Stretching her arm out, she waited for him to hand it to her. Instead, she found his arms wrapped around her again as he pulled the outer layer over her shoulders and she slipped her arms into the bell sleeves. She refused to admit that her heart was pounding at his closeness, so she decided to play it off by laughing. "Well, aside from the fact that I feel like I can't breathe, this is actually rather comfortable" she remarked.

Erik chuckled. "It suits you, somehow," he said, not even looking at her body. He was looking in her eyes, she noticed when she looked up, and promptly looked down again.

"Look, Erik," she began at the same instant he said "Aria," and they laughed, releasing a bit of tension, and they both realized Erik's hands were still on her arms. He quickly let go, but Ari, on an impulse, caught his hand, and he raised his good eyebrow.

"I...Um..." she started, but soon found her conscious mind screaming at her. _Stop it! Stop dawdling! Just tell him you like him, you numbskull! He already likes you! He's not going to push you away!_ "Uh..." _SPEAK, YOU MORON!_ "Ilikeyou," she slurred. _FINALLY!_ her subconscious yelled at her. "Shut up," she grumbled to it.  
"What?" Erik asked, confused at her slurring and her grumble.

"N-nothing..I-I mean, yes, it was something, but, I...I mean..." she sighed, closing her eyes. It would be easier if she didn't have to look at him, so she turned, letting go of his hand as she wrapped her arms around herself. "When you kissed me...were you just going along with my performance, or – ?"

"No, Aria. I thought I'd made that clear enough. I feel for you. I care about you. My affection for you runs almost deeper than I'd care to admit," he told the back of her head quietly.

Ari had the urge to turn slightly to see him, to see the expression on his face, but resisted. She could never say what she wanted to - needed to - if she had to look at him. She sighed again, trying to get her heart to stop pounding and her hands to stop shaking. "I...I can't even say it" she said, laughing, but even her laugh shook. "I felt a lot more than I wanted to when you kissed me. I...I felt like I belonged in your arms, like that was where I was always supposed to be..." she whispered.

Erik stood silently, surprised. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it certainly hadn't been that.

"I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened, what it felt like...When I first met you, I was afraid of you, but now all I want is to be in your arms forever," she found herself saying, and quickly covered her mouth. "Oh god" she whispered, realizing what she'd just said.

Erik said nothing, but walked closer to her and rested a hand on her shoulder, walking around to face her. Directly in front of her, he gazed lovingly into her eyes, which she'd opened. Carefully, the Opera Ghost pulled her slender hand away from her mouth with thin fingers of his own and laced their hands. His own heart began to pound a little as he pulled her closer to him, and she continued to try to look into his eyes until his image blurred completely.

Ari felt all her senses numb as she felt his hesitant breath caress her lips, and found herself unable to breathe. _Kiss_ _me_, she found her subconscious mind begging him, and thanked god he couldn't hear her thoughts. He waited so long, she thought he was going to change his mind, but suddenly, he wrapped his arms tightly around her tightly bound waist, snapping her senses back into place, and pulled her against him before pressing his lips to hers once more.

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**A/N:** REVIEW! Let me know what you think. I need reviews to survive...if I don't, I'll surely die...:dramatic faint: Save me, O loyal phans:Giggle: I MEAN :Cry: 


	7. Uncertainty

**A/N:** Chapter 7…Just as a warning, I don't know how…interesting…this will get, so beware. I'm gonna try to control them, but my characters completely take over a lot…This won't get _too_ bad, as I am trying to keep it pg-13…however, I think I may make this chapter R.

So yeah.

**THIS CHAPTER IS RATED _R_ BECAUSE MY CHARACTERS NEVER DO WHAT I WANT THEM TO.**

Just thought y'all should know.

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- Uncertainty-

Ari's hands slid up his arms as she sighed and wound her arms around his neck, glad he was holding her up. If he hadn't been, she would definitely have fallen over, especially when he dipped her so far back, she felt like she was lying in his arms. The passion in his kiss was more than she'd expected, and she found herself completely breathless and speechless when he pulled away, and pulled her upright.

Erik smoothed her bangs away from her eyes, and Ari's finger involuntarily traced the edge of his mask. "Stop," he whispered quietly, gripping her wrist gently to pull her hand away from the mask. When Ari opened her mouth to protest, Erik leaned in and kissed her again to silence her. He walked her backwards, suspecting she didn't even feel it, and pressed her against the back wall, the only place with no costumes attached to it. There were benches everywhere, in front of desks, and big cushions on the floor, much to Ari's amusement.

The girl tensed when she felt Erik push her mesh shift off of her, onto the floor, drawing his thin fingers down her arms in a sensual sort of way. In response, she pushed his tuxedo jacket off of him, still kissing as passionately as they had been. "What's wrong?" he asked when she pulled away.

"N-nothing…this is just…weird…for me…" she laughed. "I didn't even know I had these emotions," she admitted. "To think –"

"Don't think. Just react," he urged, smiling against her lips, and began kissing her again, this time gently rather than passionately. His lips barely touched hers, and she pushed forward, trying to get him to really kiss her, but he pulled back, amused, and leaned down to kiss the side of her neck, drawing exactly the reaction he wanted to from her as she sighed, almost moaning a little as he managed to tip her head back and kiss her throat. Ari's neck muscles tensed immediately at the touch, but she sighed as her skin burned pleasantly every time he touched it with his lips. He pushed a strap of the white dress off her shoulder and kissed it gently, then moved to the swell of her chest, drawing a line of kisses up to her collarbone, over to the other side of her neck. His movements were painfully slow, and Ari was breathing hard by the time he found her lips again, kissing her slowly and gently.

Ari couldn't take his gentleness anymore, and she lunged forward a little, kissing him roughly. Much to her joy, he returned her kiss with just as much force, if not more. Opening her mouth to the tongue she could feel pushing through her lips, she moaned a little in her sigh, surprised at how vocal she was being. She usually never admitted when guys did something she liked: she found it embarrassing, and the fact that Erik was chuckling lightly when he pulled away did not help her any.

"Are you _blushing_?" he asked, touching her cheek to find it warmer and pinker than usual.

"No," Ari lied, turning her face from him. Her bangs fell into her left eye again, and Erik reached to the back of her head, easily pulling the pencil she'd twisted into her hair out of it. At the absence of the only thing that had been keeping it up, Ari's waving hair fell around her shoulders, resting just above the top of the dress.

"Yes you are," he corrected her, grinning, but he looked at her and straightened his face into a genuine smile. "You look good with your hair down. You should leave it like this more often."

Ari shrugged, closing her eyes, relaxed. "I hate the way it always…gets…in my way…" Her sentences broke when he kissed the curve of her neck, and drew a trail of kisses down her throat, to the swell of her chest.

"You're so beautiful, Aria," he said between kisses.

"Mm…No I'm - Mmph!" she exclaimed, finding his mouth suddenly on hers.

"What did I tell you to say?"

"Thank you Erik," she whispered with a smile, her eyes still closed. Erik suddenly lifted her up and her legs went around him almost automatically, still pressed against the wall. Bending down to kiss him, she noticed that he seemed to be rather strong, and was holding her up quite easily. She hadn't expected that from his thin frame. They remained that way for awhile before Erik put her down, and Ari practically pounced on him, causing them both to fall backwards onto a cushion, much to their amusement.

Laughing, Erik flipped them so he was on top of Ari, looking down.

The girl was panting, breathing hard under the corset, and Erik's weight, though he really wasn't all that heavy for a guy. On a whim, Ari flipped them again so she was straddling him – yes, straddling him in a short dress – and began to unbutton his tuxedo shirt. She had the distinct feeling he never wore anything else.

Of course, he did look excellent in this, masked or not. When she got to his collar, she leaned back so he could sit up and she could pull the shirt off of him. Looking at his torso, she had to fight to keep a grin from spreading across her lips. He was as beautifully proportioned as she imagined he would be. She leaned back, almost sitting on his legs, and drew a line of kisses from the top of his trousers to his throat, moving painfully slowly, just as he had done to her. She grinned internally when she felt a moan she almost didn't hear reverberate through his body. At that, she just moved slower. By the time she reached his throat, she could feel his pulse racing under the soft touch of her lips, and he turned his head to meet her lips, roughly as before, but not painfully. He'd always been gentle with her, even when she hadn't known he was there.

As they kissed, Ari's hands slowly made their way up his muscular arms, curling around his neck, and his found their way around her waist, pulling her against him. When she realized his right hand was creeping towards the top of her corset in the back, ready to untie the thing he's just painstakingly laced up around her. "I don't think you should – Do you really want to lace that thing up again?" she asked. Suddenly, she found herself nervous and shy, unusual feelings for her.

"You're shy," Erik noticed, looking amused, and let her back down onto the cushion. "All right." He wasn't going to push her to do anything except sing, and that was just because he knew what she could do better than she did.

Ari looked up at him questioningly when he pulled away suddenly. He only grinned, and Ari felt her wrists rise up and pin themselves at either side of her head. Erik's arms were still wrapped around her waist. She shuddered, a little bothered by the way nothing was pressing down on her wrists, but she couldn't move them.

"What's wrong?" Erik crooned against her lips, and Ari almost whimpered. He grinned internally. "Don't like being…trapped?" he asked, clamping her ankles down, too.

"No, I don't," she said, realizing this when she felt all her muscles tense.

"Sorry," he said quickly, apologizing, and released his holds on her. He began to kiss her gently again, and Ari closed her eyes in relaxation. Just when he began moving in for another kiss, Ari stopped him, touching a finger to his lips.

"Sing for me," she whispered instead. "I've only heard you sing in my dreams…I want to hear you sing in person," she said with a smile.

Erik got off of her and stood, offering a hand to her. When she took it, he pulled her up easily. "You're light," he commented, teasing, and laughed when Ari stuck her tongue out at him. Under her expectant gaze, Erik sighed. "What do you want me to sing?"

"I don't know," she said, looking down. "Anything you want. A love song, an aria, something." She just wanted him to sing to her. Hearing his voice in her dreams was not nearly enough for her. "Sing to me."

Erik smiled and nodded, breathing deep. When he began, his flawless tenor was completely unwavering for two slow beats, then spun into smooth vibrato. When Ari closed her eyes, recognizing the song to be one she'd sung herself, in a different key, Erik walked behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders and carefully sliding his hands down her arms and around her waist as he sang. "…_Non credio del mio cor, dolce desio…_"

Ari felt like she was floating. She'd never heard such a voice, and she usually _hated_ tenors, drawn absolutely towards basses and baritones. There was sorrow in his pure tone, but a certain calm to it, and the combination made her eyes water. He sang a solid pianissimo, whispering in her ear as he sang, sending chills down Ari's spine. She didn't even notice he'd been holding her until her knees gave way completely. Deep in the music, Erik had noticed only enough to catch her and hold her up until she could stand solidly again.

Unfortunately, that happened only when he'd finished the song. Ari was completely speechless as she straightened, tears leaking from the eyes she'd just now opened.

Erik smiled a little sheepishly. He'd never had that effect on anyone he sang to before. Of course, he'd never sung that song to anyone but her… "Are you all right?"

Ari cleared her throat before speaking. "Um, wow," was all she could say. "How…what is that song about?" she asked quietly, curious. The emotion he'd felt, whatever it was, had choked her up. Or maybe it had just been his voice…either way, she loved it.

"Ah, seduction, actually," he said with a sly sort of glint in his eye.

"Oh," Ari said more quietly, and he grinned when she looked down, away from his face. "You have an incredible voice."

"Now you see why I appreciate yours."

"I suppose…so…um…" she said awkwardly. "I-I should go see if I can audition now and go back to school." As she walked reluctantly out of Erik's arms, she realized she almost wanted him to stop her.

Then he did. He caught her wrist and spun her back towards him. When she spun in, he changed the angle so he could dip her back. "Are you so ready to leave me?" he asked, and the heat in his voice made Ari shiver.

"Um…" she breathed, completely uncertain now.

"What would you do if I told you I wasn't going to _let_ you go?" he asked, whispering against her lips as he, unknown to her, lowered her back down onto a cushion on the floor. When she closed her eyes and opened her mouth to answer, he gently bit her lower lip, chuckling when she squeaked a little.

"I don't know…" she whimpered, almost afraid of the passion and determination she saw in his eyes. When he drew a hand up her corset, fingers hooking around the top, she tensed a little. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked quietly, her heart pounding at the way she could feel an invisible hand gently unlacing her corset and fingers gently drawing curving lines across her back when the corset came undone.

"Just lay back and enjoy it," Erik said with a sly smile, and the fingers hooked around the top of her corset pulled away, taking the restraining article with them, out of the neck of the dress.

Ari, remembering the dress was almost completely transparent at the top, folded her arms over her chest immediately and flushed a very bright pink. "Eriiiiiiiik!" she whined, trying to turn over, but then realized he was pretty much laying on top of her, and she didn't really mind…_Bad Ari!_

"Yes?" he asked, balancing on his elbows as he tried to pry her arms away from her chest. "_Aria_…" he whispered the way he'd so often done in the wind, and her muscles relaxed a little. She loved that seductive tone his voice always held. "_Relax_…" he whispered in her ear, sending pleasant chills down her spine.

Ari sighed and her arms relaxed completely, forgetting where she was, what she was doing, and who was rather successfully seducing her. She let Erik wind her arms around his neck without hesitation and without resistance. When she felt his lips connect with hers, she imagined she was floating again. "See, that wasn't so terrible, was it?" she heard him ask, and was suddenly aware that her corset was behind him, and that he was laying on her with only a couple of thin layers of fabric separating them. "You need to learn to loosen up a little," he complained. Ari would never be able to figure out how he ended up between her legs.

When she visibly realized their position, Erik grinned mischievously, and when Ari opened her mouth to speak, he touched a thin finger to her lips. "Shh…" he murmured, still smiling, and kissed her, exploring her mouth with his tongue. He felt her give way to him completely and raised himself up on her to even out their bodies.

Ari jumped when she felt him…well…_him_…he was pressing himself against her, rocking forward and back, along her body, but what surprised her the most was that she didn't mind…well…she sort of liked it, actually…but this was _wrong_! _I can't do this…not _here_…in the Opera House? With _him_? I just met him…well, I've kind of known him my whole life, but I didn't know it was him…but I just met him now…Mm…he's such a good kisser…Bad Ari! Wait…what was I not supposed to do and why can I not do it? I really hope he doesn't have telepathy as well as telekinesis…_

Erik chuckled when they came up for air, sensing her inner struggle. "What's wrong, Aria? Feel strange about kissing a fellow who's known you your whole life, whom you've only known for a short period of time?" he asked, smoothing her bangs away from her eyes again.

Ari bit her lip. "No…" she denied, her lie visible as well as audible.

"_Just relax and enjoy it,_" Erik murmured to her in that hypnotic voice of his, and began kissing her again.

* * *

**A/N:** Well that was a little more awkward to write than I thought it was going to be, and took a lot longer than it was supposed to…I hate it when my characters do things I don't want them to, or don't plan for them to do…next chapter will be more interesting, I promise, and will probably appear more quickly. The plot goes back into motion after this…really… REVIEW the fluff! Lol. 


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